Nathaniel Clyne can’t expect to walk into the England starting line-up after one good season, according to Roy Hodgson.
The Southampton man was controversially left out of Hodgson’s eleven in the 3-2 win against Slovenia on Sunday, after also being left out of last week’s friendly against Republic of Ireland, and was pictured ‘walking off’ after being brought on in the dying embers of the game in Ljubljana.
Clyne would have been even more surprised at half-time when Hodgson brought off the hapless Jones and decided to switch Jordan Henderson to the unnatural position of right-back and bring on Clyne’s former team-mate Adam Lallana instead.
Hodgson expressed his surprise when questioned on the 24 year-0ld’s alleged reaction.
The England Boss said: “We think Nathaniel Clyne is a very good player but I would be disappointed if I thought that on the basis of a good season with their clubs they can walk in and demand a place.
“If I was to play him and leave out Phil Jones there would have been a lot of questions about “don’t you rate Phil Jones’ and “don’t you think he’s a man of the future.
“I suppose Nathaniel was disappointed but it was a tactical decision. Our first thought in the dressing room was to readjust and keep those attacking subs up our sleeves”.
Clyne has previously expressed his willingness to stay at Southampton as long as he is a regular in the England team so Hodgson’s choice could bear some impact on the right-back’s ongoing negotiations with the Saints over a contract extension.
